3 Unique Ways Japanese Show Love for their Canine Friends

Do you love dogs, or do you have your own lovely dog in your family already?
Mostly everyone dedicates all their love to their pets, and this is especially true for Japanese people.
If you’re living in Japan or planning to visit Japan as a tourist, many of you might have already seen Japanese people taking their dogs out for a walk.

Do you know that some Japanese people also show their love in possibly overboard ways, treating their dogs like human beings? Is it normal or way too much?
For those of you who have dogs, they are treated as your family members and you may feel like they are “More than just a pet” right?

Let’s see how some Japanese people treat their dogs to show their “LOVE” for their canine buddies in this article.

1. How About Some Dog Clothes?

Some Japanese people put clothes on their dogs. There are certain reasons, such as:

1. Protecting their dogs from the Cold

Do you know that small dogs like Yorkshire Terrier, Chihuahua, Pug, French Bulldog, Toy Poodle, etc. are very sensitive to cold?
Trying to protect them against the cold, some Japanese owners put clothes on their small dogs, especially during the cold season. If people get small dogs as pets, they feel sorry for the dogs shivering and start to think of ways to warm their little friends up.

However, some Japanese people put clothes on their dogs simply because they think it’s cute.
If you take a look at pet shops in Japan, you can find many kinds of pet clothes, and even Santa Clause costumes for Christmas!

2. Protecting them from the Rain

If the dogs can’t go to the bathroom on pee pads, their owners need to take them out for a walk, even if it’s raining outside.
In this case, some Japanese people put special raincoats on their dogs to go outside.
These raincoats can protect them from the rain and also helps a lot when trying to keep your home dry when you come back in from your walk, as well.
Imagine your dog’s fur is so fluffy, and you need to go in out in the rain and quickly becomes dripping wet? It might be a headache drying your dog’s drenched coat, and it may take a while to completely dry. It’s important to dry your dog well, because they may develop a skin problem.

Doggy raincoats are a very convenient and helpful item for some Japanese owners.

2.Using Baby Carriages for Walks

Some Japanese people use a baby carriage for their dogs when they go out. You can see this situation quite often on the streets in Tokyo.
Why do Japanese people use baby carriages for dogs? Any special reason?

Here are certain reasons:

1. The dogs are sick and can’t walk

If the dogs are sick for any reason, some Japanese owners put their dogs in baby carriages since the dogs are too weak to walk by themselves.
There may be some reasons when owners need to take their dogs with them and can’t leave them at home, so in this case, owners use baby carriages as a means of transportation.

2. Senior dogs need special support to walk

If the dogs are senior dogs and can’t walk properly all the time, baby carriages help them a lot.
It’s like a wheelchair or scooter for senior people.
Dogs get old just like people do, and what if dogs want to walk by themselves but
they can’t? Dogs age faster than people, and if they are 15 years old, it’s 76 years old in
human years.

Some Japanese people care for their senior dogs by using baby carriages.

3. Avoiding potential problems in crowded areas

If the owners need to take their dogs out into a crowded area such as Shibuya or Shinjuku where many people are bustling all the time, some owners put their dogs inside baby carriages to avoid any troubles, such as
people stepping on their dogs by accident, or dog biting someone.

Generally, dogs are smaller than people and people sometimes can’t watch their steps carefully when there are too many people around.

Some Japanese owners think that it’s one of their responsibilities to protect their dogs from any troubles outside. It’s like a mother and her child.

3. Family Eats More than just Dog Food!

For some Japanese people, dog food is just one of the meals for dogs, and they want their dogs to have the same food as people eat.
They sometimes give their dogs birthday cakes, cookies, special steaks and even New Year’s dishes made with special ingredients that dogs can eat.

For those of you who never thought of giving these foods to your dogs, you may be shocked by this fact but it’s really true.
Some Japanese people think that they want to share the same food with their dogs as people do, so, for instance, they make it by themselves or order special birthday cakes from shops every year to celebrate their dogs birthday.
You can see some Japanese people post the pictures of their dogs birthday celebration on Facebook or Instagram.

Since the lifespan for dogs is shorter than people, some Japanese owners cherish the memories with their dogs in their own ways.

Do you now see some Japanese peoples’ way of showing love to their dogs?
Do you feel it’s way too much, or totally agreeable and you also feel the same? Maybe some points are too much but some are reasonable?

Even if it’s an unfamiliar sight to see how Japanese people treat their dogs in ways listed in this article, you might see that there are certain reasons for doing so.

Each person has their own opinion, and this is also true for how people want to treat pets.
If you see Japanese people with baby carriages on the streets in Japan, you may see some cute dogs inside instead of babies!